Ankara mayor asks opposition deputy on Twitter: Are you gay?

ISTANBUL

Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek posted a tweet yesterday addressing Republican People's Party (CHP) Tunceli deputy Hüseyin Aygün, asking him whether or not he was gay.

Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek posted a tweet yesterday addressing Republican People's Party (CHP) Tunceli deputy Hüseyin Aygün, asking him whether or not he was gay.

“Hüseyin Aygün, are you gay? Don't misunderstand me, we’re just wondering. They’re also wondering in Tunceli,” Gökçek said in his tweet, linking to an Internet news item reporting the participation of three CHP deputies, including Aygün, in the 11th annual LGBT Pride March in Istanbul.

He had previously posted the same link, which read: "Read this news attentively, people march if they want to march. Everyone makes their own choice. I have nothing to say on this."

Gökçek has also recently attracted attention for targeting the BBC Turkish service journalist Selin Girit on Twitter, due to her tweets related to the Gezi Park protests. He asked his followers to support his campaign by posting tweets with a hashtag stating that Girit was an "agent" working for Britain.